Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen is a well-known British artist and experimental filmmaker whose feature-length debut, Hunger, has earned him an almost unanimous raft of positive notices, and his reputation as one of the United Kingdom’s most prolific artists led to his being picked as his homeland’s official representative at the upcoming Venice Biennale.

Appeal

Though exceedingly little is known about his personal life (and despite the fact that he looks nothing like the legendary Great Escape star), Steve McQueen has undoubtedly used his familiar moniker as an ice-breaker during his first encounters with potential girlfriends. It’s just as clear, however, that Steve McQueen hardly needs to rely on his tangential connection to a long-dead cinematic icon to pick up women, as the man possesses the kind of talent and fiery ambition that most members of the fairer sex find irresistible. And as he becomes a bigger and more well-known celebrity around the world, Steve McQueen will surely find it easier and easier to meet (and hook up with) ladies far outside his comfort zone.

Success

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola. There are a handful of directors who have shaped the way we see things, and who have told us stories that we'll keep for a liftetime. Steve McQueen is going to be one of them. He has been making a name for himself on the avant-garde art scene since he was in his mid-20s, with his exhibitions and creations taking him to such exotic destinations as Zurich, Portugal and Luxembourg. Though he’s only now becoming a familiar face in North America, Steve McQueen has been a household name within the UK ever since he was awarded the Turner Prize in 1999 (which was followed by the Order of the British Empire in 2002). In 2008, Steve McQueen impressively dwarfed his previous accomplishments with the release of his feature-length debut Hunger -- which, in addition to its almost unanimous praise from critics, has since gone on to win a surfeit of prizes at film festivals and award ceremonies the world over. His burgeoning profile made him a natural choice to represent Britain at the impending Venice Biennale, with British Council representative Andrea Rose remarking, “[Steve] McQueen's powerful and emotive work both challenges and inspires audiences to reflect upon the world in which we live." Not too shabby for someone who was, as a teenager, encouraged to simply “get a trade.”

Steve McQueen Biography

Steve McQueen was born in 1969 in London, England. Growing up in West London, Steve McQueen enjoyed a typically British childhood that was defined by his interest in (and eventual decision to play) soccer alongside his friends and schoolmates. He dabbled in art during his teen years, although he didn’t become serious about the field until he signed up for a stint at the Chelsea College of Art and Design. It was there that he began experimenting with a variety of forms and techniques, with his lifelong interest in cinema triggering a decision to begin producing short films at London’s Goldsmith’s College.

Following his graduation, Steve McQueen earned a place at New York’s famed Tisch School of the Arts -- where his impatience with the school's rigid teaching methods forced him to drop out. He subsequently immersed himself in the local underground art scene, and devoted himself to the creation of ultra-experimental shorts such as 1993’s Bear and 1997’s Deadpan. Steve McQueen’s reluctance to embrace a traditional narrative is certainly evident in his early work, as the fledgling director was known to project his shot-on-grainy-black-and-white endeavors on three separate walls within avant-garde art galleries.

steve mcqueen wins the turner prize

In 1999, Steve McQueen’s reputation as a promising up-and-coming artist and filmmaker was cemented after he beat out a myriad of fellow artists to win Britain’s prestigious Turner Prize -- which he had earned for his short film based on the work of Buster Keaton. Armed with the newfound cache and respect afforded by the award, McQueen spent the next several years exhibiting his projects within such well-known galleries as New York City’s Museum of Modern Art and Japan’s Yokohama Museum of Art. In 2002, McQueen received an honorary Order of the British Empire for his ongoing work and, just a year later, he was named the Official War Artist for Iraq by London’s Imperial War Museum.

steve mcqueen kills at cannes

Steve McQueen’s increasingly prolific sensibilities ensured that his work grew more and more ubiquitous as the years went by, and although he certainly could have spent the rest of his career as an avant-garde artist, there eventually reached a point at which the man found himself itching to try something that would truly stretch his limits of creativity. He inevitably settled on the true-life story of a political prisoner who, in 1981, chose to go on a hunger strike to protest Britain’s occupation of Northern Ireland; the film, entitled Hunger, premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival to the kind of rapturous reception most first-time filmmakers could only dream of, and was awarded the festival’s prestigious Golden Camera award (with McQueen himself taking the Camera d’Or trophy for his superlative efforts).

steve mcqueen at the venice biennale

The movie’s ongoing success as it opened in markets around the world proved instrumental in the selection of Steve McQueen to represent Britain at 2009’s Venice Biennale, which has become known as one of the most well-regarded international art exhibitions on the planet.